Rafael Benitez admits Newcastle United players will have no excuses for underperforming

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez admits that his Newcastle United players have no excuses for not performing in the Premier League despite the reduced transfer activity this summer.

The former Real Madrid coach took over the Magpies’ reigns during the tailend of the 2015/16 season, but he was unable to prevent them from beating them from beating the drop.

Despite this, he committed his future to the Tyneside outfit on a three-year deal whilst guiding them back to the Premier League as Championship holders. Speaking to reporters prior to their league opener against Tottenham Hotspur, the Spaniard admitted that every single player and staff will have to be up for it as they cannot make excuses for his reduced summer spending.

He said: “The main message from me for the fans is get behind the players because it’s now the way. I was telling the players that we cannot make excuses, so we have to be ready and try to win the games and that’s it. Sometimes we will do it and sometimes we will not do it, but we have to be sure that every single game, the players give everything and myself and my staff will do the same.”

Newcastle United have spent just over £30m on the likes of Javier Manquillo, Christian Atsu, Florian Lejeune, Mikel Merino and Jacob Murphy, and there had been a suggestion that Benitez could walk out of the club due to the transfer promises not being fulfilled.

However, Benitez insisted that he is up for the challenge with the Magpies, and his focus is solely on the tough game against Tottenham Hotspur, whom they humiliated last time around by a 5-1 scoreline whilst playing with 10 men for large parts of the second half. Spurs have since evolved into the club to watch for in the Premier League, and Benitez and co. will have their task cut short to stop their flourishing attack.